In the shifting landscape of IT and customer service, traditional approaches are reaching the limits of human capability. As call centers and help desks attempt to keep up with growing demand while lowering costs and improving performance, cognitive and artificial intelligence (AI) technology offers a solution that scales. The first phase of this transformation has already begun. By 2018, Gartner estimates that 30 percent of interactions with technology will be through conversations with smart machines. Soon, the receiver of your next customer service request will more than likely not be handled by a live human or occur on the phone. Frustrations with phone-based service are pushing people to opt for interactions via chat, text and email.

Ford is finally taking the plunge and setting a date for the launch of a fleet of fully autonomous cars. Ford CEO Mark Fields announced that the company is working toward launching a fleet of commercial, level 4 (one level below a completely autonomous system, in which drivers don't have to be engaged) vehicles in a ride-hail service by 2021. The details of that ride-hail service -- such as which company Ford will partner with to operate it -- still haven't been determined. Fields made the announcement at a meeting with Ford employees at the company's Palo Alto research and development center. As part of that effort, Ford is investing in Velodyne, a self-driving tech company, and is working with three other startups.

I get this question almost daily. I'm referring to when the advertising industry started to implement programmatic solutions, when there were multiple definitions for the word, "programmatic" and even more flavors of technologies claiming the category. The word "programmatic" means different things to different people, but I go by the following definition: Programmatic Advertising: The automation of workflow and data-driven decisioning, which creates customization of inventory or audiences purchased to receive specific messages. This may or may not incorporate real-time-bidding (RTB). A programmatic solution also may or may not include machine learning or AI capabilities.

Technology is really a marvel. So often, as new technology comes out and allows us to do things that were thought impossible in the past, we hear the phrase "The future is now." Popular Science and XPRIZE are teaming up to explore and explain technologies like these in a video series called Future First. Episode two of Future First is titled "Artificial Intelligence: Your Tutor and Nurse." In it, we take a look at artificial intelligence and its potential applications for education, health, and more.

Machine learning algorithms running in fully automated systems need the ability to handle missing data points. The most common approach is to use the mean (average) value as a substitute for a missing value. According to Mustafa Bilgic, director of the Machine Learning Lab and associate professor of Computer Science at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, the approach makes strong assumptions about data, including that the data is "missing at random." For example, said Bilgic in an interview, "The fact that the cholesterol level is missing for a patient actually can be very useful information. It could mean that the test was not ordered on purpose, which could actually mean it is suspected to be either irrelevant for this task or it is assumed to be normal. There are approaches that do not assume the features are'missing at random,' though it is unlikely that the fully automated techniques will know which features are missing at random and which aren't."

Sex dolls are becoming much more than silicone orifices. Soon, they're going to talk and learn and maybe even walk around. In a Reddit AMA on Tuesday, RealDoll CEO Matt McMullen revealed some of the company's future plans for its sex dolls -- and the future of intimacy involves a lot of plastic, metal and your smartphone. In response to someone asking McMullen who he sees as the company's direct competition, he said the "human female." This might explain why RealDoll is trying to bring its products to "life."

A Bloomberg tech journalist is leaving to join Elon Musk's 1 billion AI company Nasa launches million dollar contest to create'Valkyrie' AI robot that will accompany astronauts on ...

Nasa has announced that it has found evidence of flowing water on Mars. Scientists have long speculated that Recurring Slope Lineae -- or dark patches -- on Mars were made up of briny water but the new findings prove that those patches are caused by liquid water, which it has established by finding hydrated salts. Several hundred camped outside the London store in Covent Garden. The 6s will have new features like a vastly improved camera and a pressure-sensitive "3D Touch" display

The artificial intelligence company originally launched the site in mid July focussing on the Republican Party's Donald Trump and the Democratic Party's Hillary Clinton. Aicial Co-Founder and CEO, Troy Kelly said with ongoing accusation of media bias from all participants in the presidential election, we wanted to road test our platform and provide easily accessible, unbiased monitoring and analysis of social media traffic at 2016tweets.live. "Aicial is bringing clarity to an environment often too confusing and noisy for the average person to make sense of. We cut through the confusion to give the public insights based on data alone; no marketing, no agenda. After surging interest in the platform, the company continued development of the engine to provide the public with expanded insights; subsequently opening the platform to all Presidential nominees of the 2016 election with the inclusion of Jill Stein for the Green Party and Gary Johnson for the Libertarian Party.

Most people will instinctively tilt their heads to read sideways text like in the image above, because trying to read the words without tilting your head would require greater mental effort. Other examples include jotting down items on a shopping list, setting a reminder on your phone, using a calculator or checking IMDB when the name of an actor is on the tip of your tongue. These days, so much of our behavior involves cognitive offloading that it raises questions about potential negative consequences. After all, could there really be such a thing as free brainpower? "Cognitive offloading undoubtedly brings huge benefits, but also potential costs," Gilbert said in a press release.